Thursday, 7 September 2017

Sipsmith Gin at Shears Yard

Just seven days in and I've already failed in the entirely arbitrary challenge to blog every day in September. The truth is, I'm absolutely exhausted this week! I had entirely underestimated how difficult I would find going back to work after a month of lying around recuperation. I am feeling fine in pretty much all other respects so am assuming it is simply a case of getting back into routine but oh, the weekend can't come fast enough.

Before I had the operation, I think I briefly mentioned on here a gin tasting evening that we attended at Shears Yard, which I never got around to telling you about. There is no point providing a detailed review since it was a one off menu developed for a one off event, which seems to be something that Shears Yard goes in for fairly often. The quality and value was top notch though - if you are local to Leeds, I would highly recommend signing up for their mailing list to stay apprised of all such happenings.

The one we attended, way back at the beginning of August, was in collaboration with Sipsmith Gin and consisted of a five course menu, with each dish accompanied by a specially developed gin cocktail. Annoyingly, because I had to pay upfront on booking and that was quite a long time and a few drinks ago now, I can't now remember how much it cost - I think maybe £50, £60 per head? Whatever the exact details, we both commented on the value - the food was of a very high standard and the drinks were not only tasty but also potent enough to demonstrate that they weren't skimping on the key product.

As I said, the menu was specifically developed for the event so I won't bore you too much with details of dishes that will never appear on the standard menu. But the juniper cured venison lion with duck liver parfait and fig bread deserves a special mention not least because I am very much into mini loaves at the moment...

I also really enjoyed the pink grapefruit posset, despite not being the biggest grapefruit fan in the world. The addition of white chocolate, whose rich sweetness took some of the bitter sting from the citrus, and the genius textural element of puffed rice granola, made for a really well balanced, exciting and moreish pudding. The accompanying cocktail, which combined Sipsmith London Dry with, among other things, lychee and blue curacao, went down pretty smoothly as well.

We have eaten at Shears Yard once before - a distressingly long time ago (February 2015 according to this review) and it is a crying shame that time, money and a desire to try new things mean that it will probably be another two and a half years before we go back. But if you're looking for somewhere in Leeds which turns out bright, interesting, accomplished food at a reasonable price then it is definitely somewhere to bear in mind. And look out for forthcoming events as well! There's a Taste of New Zealand evening coming up at the end of September which sounds pretty interesting...